Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images
Ostriches crowd in an open-air cage at a farm in the Belarus village of Kozishche, some 190 miles southwest of Minsk, on Jan. 24, 2013.
Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand? According to the American Ostrich Association, it's a myth.
Slideshow: Winter's frozen splendor
Previously on PhotoBlog:
Robert F. Bukaty / AP
A barge motors through arctic sea-smoke on its way out of Portland Harbor, where the temperature at sunrise was about minus 5 degrees, Thursday, in Portland, Maine. Arctic air kept a cold blanket of misery over the Northeast Thursday as the region experienced the kind of temperatures that have left the Upper Midwest shivering for days. Continue reading.
John Gress / Reuters
Arctic air has descended over the Northeast as the region experiences the kind of temperatures that have left the Upper Midwest shivering for days.
Yuri Kochetkov / EPA
International Space Station expedition 40/41 crew members, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (right) of the United States, Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev (center) and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst (left) of Germany, practice in Star City, outside Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 23, 2013.
A group of astronauts set out on a camping trip in a snowbound forest outside Moscow on Wednesday, as they took part in a training exercise to practice survival techniques in case of a crash landing.
The team of three — an American, a Russian and a German — are preparing for a mission to the International Space Station in May 2014.
-- Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency
Yuri Kochetkov / EPA
Maxim Suraev (left) and Reid Wiseman gather wood to build a shelter.
Sergei Remezov / Reuters
(From left) Maxim Suraev, Gregory Wiseman and Alexander Gerst stand by their shelter.
Sergei Remezov / Reuters
(From left) Maxim Suraev, Alexander Gerst and Gregory Wiseman try to keep warm.
Related:
Next space station crew faces out-of-this-world final exams
Yoan Valat / EPA
Florence Cassez embraces her mother Charlotte Cassez, as French Minister for Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius looks on, upon her arrival in Paris on Jan. 24.
Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP - Getty Images file
French national Florence Cassez listens to her lawyer behind bars on Jan. 22, 2008 in Mexico City. Mexico's Supreme Court ordered yesterday, the immediate release of Cassez serving 60 years in prison for kidnapping, ruling that authorities had violated her legal rights.
Mexico's Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of Florence Cassez, a 38-year-old French woman who had been sentenced to 60 years in jail for kidnapping and other crimes. The court ended the seven-year Mexican prison ordeal by ruling yesterday that there were serious irregularities in the way the case was handled, including a failure to grant Cassez due process.
Reuters reported, Charlotte Cassez, her mother, told French television, "It's an explosion of joy. It's wonderful."
"It's not far from being the best day of my life. We've been waiting for so long," she said after hearing about her daughter's release. "She deserves it. She is innocent and has fought to prove that. It's a victory for her." Continue reading article.
-- Reuters, European Pressphotos Agency
Andrew Burton / Reuters
A soldier with the U.S. Army's Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment bench-presses an Afghan National Army soldier before a patrol near Command Outpost AJK (short for Azim-Jan-Kariz, a nearby village) in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province on Jan. 24, 2013.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan will move into a support role starting this spring, President Barack Obama announced earlier this month, setting the stage for a further reduction of coalition forces. Some 66,000 U.S. troops are currently in Afghanistan.
Mark Lennihan / AP, file
Ironworkers James Brady, left, and Billy Geoghan release the cables from a steel beam after connecting it on the 104th floor of One World Trade Center in New York on Aug. 2, 2012. The beam was signed by President Barack Obama with the words: "We remember," ''We rebuild" and "We come back stronger!" during a ceremony at the construction site June 14. Also adorned with the autographs of workers and police officers at the site, the beam will be sealed into the structure of the tower, which is scheduled for completion in 2014.
Mark Lennihan / AP
Graffiti left by visitors to One World Trade Center is seen on a steel column on the 104th floor on Jan. 15, 2013.
The Associated Press reports — On most construction projects, workers are discouraged from signing or otherwise scrawling on the iron and concrete. At the skyscraper rising at ground zero, though, they're being invited to leave messages for the ages.
"Freedom Forever. WTC 9/11" is scrawled on a beam near the top of the gleaming, 104-story One World Trade Center. "Change is from within" is on a beam on the roof. Another reads: "God Bless the workers & inhabitants of this bldg."
The words on beams, walls and stairwells of the skyscraper that replaces the twin towers lost on Sept. 11, 2001, form the graffiti of defiance and rebirth, what ironworker supervisor Kevin Murphy calls "things from the heart." Read the full story.
Related:
One World Trade Center rises, providing breathtaking views of Manhattan
View a panoramic image of the National Sept. 11 Memorial
Mark Lennihan / AP
The name Antony is seen on a steel column on the 102nd floor of One World Trade Center on Jan. 15, 2013. Workers finishing New York's tallest building are leaving their personal marks on the concrete and steel in the form of graffiti.
Mark Lennihan / AP
A message left by Michael Chertoff, the former director of Homeland Security, on a steel column on the 104th floor of One World Trade Center, seen on Jan. 15, 2013.
From April 2012: Six years since construction began on 1 World Trade Center, the tower will soon surpass the height of the Empire State Building's roof. The iron workers placing and setting each beam in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks say they are building out of a "sense of necessity" and know that the tower, now soaring nearly 1300 feet, will help the nation and the iron workers themselves heal. Many of the workers building the tower helped clean the smoldering debris in the days after the terrorist attack. Harry Smith reports.
Eric Miller / Reuters
A woman walks her dog along Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, January 23, 2013. The Upper Midwest remains locked in a deep freeze, with bitter sub-zero temperatures and wind chills stretching into a fourth day across several states due to waves of frigid Arctic air. Read the full story.
Millions of Americans are in the grips of a bitter arctic blast, with no relief in sight at least through the weekend and into Monday. The freezing temperatures and high winds are causing damage to buildings and are being blamed for several deaths. NBC's Craig Melvin reports.
Jim Michaud / Journal Inquirer via AP
Ice and snow changes our environment, as winter engulfs our world.
Jorge Saenz / AP
Children play with bubbles during events celebrating the 12th anniversary of the village of Kuetuvy in the Canindeyu department of Paraguay, on Jan. 20. The Ache are hunter-gatherers whose population of roughly 1,200 is distributed in five villages in eastern Paraguay. They also celebrated the recent success of their exports to the United States of shade-grown, organic yerba mate, a drink brewed from the leaves of the rainforest holly tree. In 2010, Paraguay’s Congress gave them formal title to the land.
This photo was made available to NBC News on Jan. 23.
AFP - Getty Images
Serbian Patriarch Irinej performs a liturgy during a solemn burial ceremony for the remains of Yugoslavia's last king Peter II Karadjordjevic, in Belgrade, on Jan. 22. The remains of the last Yugoslav king Peter II Karadjordjevic, who fled the country in the onset of Nazi invasion, were repatriated today for a re-burial in Serbia, 43 years after his death in exile in the United States. After being exhumed last week from the Serb Orthodox monastery Saint Sava at Libertyville, US, the coffin with remains of the Peter II, covered with the Serbian flag, was brought to the church at the Royal palace of Karadjordjevic in Belgrade.
The King has left the country.
Yugoslavia's last king, Peter II Karadjordjevic, who died in the United States in 1970, was taken to Serbia Tuesday, thus removing the only European royal to be buried on American soil.
The former ruler had fled the Nazis at the start of World War II. He decided to stay in the U.S. when Communists took over Yugoslavia at the end of the war.
He died in exile at the age of 47 and had been buried at the Serbian Orthodox Church monastery in Libertyville, Ill.
Darko Vojinovic / AP
A royalist supporter holds up a candle and picture of Yugoslavia's last king — Peter II Karadjordjevic during a solemn ceremony in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 22.
Darko Vojinovic / AP
This photo shows a Serbian Orthodox style icon depicting Jesus Christ, said to have been damaged by bullet holes from rounds shot by Serbian communist supporters after World War II, seen inside the Serbian royal family complex in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 22. The remains of Yugoslavia's last king, Peter II Karadjordjevic, who died in the U.S. in 1970, were flown back to Serbia in a solemn ceremony on Tuesday, despite protests by some Serb royalists in America. The former king fled the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia at the start of World War II and never returned, as Communists took over at the end of the war, and he died in exile with his remains buried at a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Libertyville, Illinois, the only European monarch buried on U.S. soil.
Darko Vojinovic / AP
Royalist supporters wearing old military uniforms are seen during a solemn ceremony after the remains of Yugoslavia's last king — Peter II Karadjordjevic were flown back to Serbia in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 22.
John Gress / Reuters
Firefighters spray down hot spots on an ice covered warehouse that caught fire Tuesday night in Chicago on Jan. 23. Fire department officials said it is the biggest fire the department has had to battle in years and one-third of all Chicago firefighters were on the scene at one point or another trying to put out the flames.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
A truck is covered in ice as firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23 in Chicago, Ill.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
A firefighter helps to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23 in Chicago, Ill. More than 200 firefighters battled a five-alarm fire as temperatures were in the single digits.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in single digit temperatures at a warehouse on the city's South Side, Bridgeport neighborhood on Jan. 23 in Chicago.
By John Newland and Daniel Arkin, NBC News
A massive fire ripped through a warehouse in Chicago's South Side Tuesday night, as firefighters were hampered by bone-chilling temperatures so low that water froze on their uniforms.
The 170 firefighters on the scene battled the elements on two fronts as the monster blaze consumed a warehouse building, endangering an adjacent structure, while temperatures dipped into the single-digits.
“This is a major fire,” the Chicago Fire Department posted on Twitter, adding that the scale of the response -- five alarms plus two “special” calls for additional trucks -- was “extremely rare.” Continue reading.
Related: Chicago firefighters battle major blaze in freezing temperatures
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23 in Chicago.
Flames rekindled at a Chicago warehouse, which had ignited in fire Tuesday night. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Kyodo via AP
An Islamic militant (in camouflage uniform, rear right) stands near Algerian employees who were forced to leave their living quarters with their belongings at the In Amenas natural gas complex in Algeria on Jan. 16.
The images are striking for what they don’t show. They hold only hints of the bloodshed to come.
The Japanese news agency Kyodo has released the first photographs from inside a hostage crisis in the North African nation of Algeria, secretly snapped by one of the captives with a cellphone camera.
Islamist fighters stormed a gas field and nearby barracks on Jan. 16 and took hundreds of people hostage. The Algerian army launched a rescue raid the following day, opening a three-day standoff.
It ended in a bloody clash. The Algerian government put the death toll at 67, including 38 foreign workers and 29 militants. The U.S. State Department said that three Americans were among those killed.
The photos released by Kyodo depict the opening hours of the crisis. They show a scene that -- while certainly not safe -- appeared stable.
In one shot, an Islamic militant, armed and wearing a mask and camouflage uniform, stands several feet away from three Algerian workers who had been forced to leave their living quarters. One of the three is wearing a hoodie, and another has his hands stuffed in his pockets.
Kyodo via Reuters
An Islamic militant (rear center, in camouflage) stands among Algerian employees who were forced to leave their living quarters with their belongings at the In Amenas natural gas complex on Jan. 16.
In a second photo, Algerian workers stand around among duffel bags and plastic water bottles arranged on the ground outside. A militant appears in the background, facing away, easy to miss but for the butt of his rifle.
A third picture is far more ominous: In the foreground are several militants, in the background at least a dozen hostages, forced to sit against a wall of the complex.
Kyodo via AP
Islamic militants stand in front of foreign hostages, seen sitting against a wall, at the Ain Amenas natural gas complex on Jan. 16.
Kyodo did not say how it had obtained the photos. A Japanese government source said on Monday that the Algerian government listed nine Japanese killed in the siege, the highest toll among non-Algerians working at the site.
Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters
An Orthodox priest blesses rifles during a ceremony where new recruits receive their weapons at a military base of the Belarusian Interior Ministry in Minsk on Jan. 23. The traditional ceremony was attended by 325 Belarusian recruits and it is held a month after the recruits take their military oath.
Previously on PhotoBlog:
Chicago Fire Department
A photo released on Twitter by Chicago Fire Media shows a warehouse on fire on Jan. 22, 2013.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in single-digit temperatures at a warehouse on the city's South Side on Jan. 23, 2013.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
An ice-covered pair of gloves belonging to a Chicago firefighter stand on a railing behind him in single-digit temperatures during a five-alarm blaze in the city's Bridgeport neighborhood on Jan. 23, 2013.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Icicles form on a fire hose from single digit temperatures as Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in the city's South Side on Jan. 23, 2013.
By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News
A five-alarm fire ripped through a warehouse in Chicago’s South Side Tuesday night.
“This is a major fire,” the Chicago Fire Department posted on Twitter, adding that the scale of the response – five alarms plus two “special” calls for additional trucks -- was “extremely rare.” About 170 firefighters were on the scene.
“This fire has about one-third of the city fire apparatus at this location,” the department said on Twitter. Read the full story.
Related: Fire and ice: Icicles cover smoky remains of massive Chicago blaze
Firefighters in Chicago spent the night battling a five-alarm blaze in single-digit temperatures. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra (C) puts the final touches to his piece of art in tribute to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, next to his assistants, at the financial center on Sao Paulo's Avenida Paulista January 22, 2013. Kobra created the 56-meter (61-yard) tall graffiti artwork as a tribute to Niemeyer, one of the 20th century's most influential modernist architects. Niemeyer died in December 2012, aged 104.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra puts the final touches.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Professional dancer Georges Exantus sleeps as his prosthetic limb lays on the floor in his bedroom in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Exantus thought he'd never dance again. He was lucky just to be alive. The earthquake three years ago in Haiti's capital flattened the apartment where he was living, where he spent three days trapped under a heap of jagged rubble. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg just below the knee. Exantus says he has learned to ignore the long stares and quiet whispers, products of a longstanding stigma in Haiti for people with disabilities. Before the quake, few resources existed to accommodate Haiti's disabled, and many regard people with disabilities as misfits.
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Exantus lifts weights in his bedroom in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Exantus bathes as he prepares for a concert in Port-au-Prince.
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Exantus walks out of his home to his wedding ceremony in Port-au-Prince.
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Exantus puts a ring on the finger of his bride Sherly Henrisme Exantus at their wedding in Port-au-Prince.
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Professional dancer Georges Exantus, right, performs with Modeline Gene Arhan during a show in Port-au-Prince.
See a series of stories from Haiti about amputees getting new prosthetic limbs after the earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010.
Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images
A French soldier wearing a skeleton mask stands next to a tank in a street in Niono, Mali.
The image was taken innocently enough: A landing helicopter kicked up a dust storm as French soldiers moved toward Niono, in northern Mali, an area held by al-Qaida-linked militant groups.
The soldiers pulled on their goggles to protect their eyes from the dust. One soldier pulled up a black bandana -- with a white skeleton face printed on it -- over his nose. Behind him, light beamed through tree branches, creating an otherworldly image -- the soldier looked like a skeleton in French military fatigues.
Photographer Issouf Sanogo of the Agence France-Presse news agency and Yann Foreix of Le Parisien were drawn to the soldier, whom they photographed. The bandana is an accessory sold for fans of the violent military game “Call of Duty.” At first glance, the soldier bears eerie resemblance to the character Ghost from the video game.
Two days after the images were published in newspapers and news sites across Europe, French military officials have announced that they aren’t pleased with the image, according to newspaper Liberation in Paris.
“This is unacceptable behavior,” said Col. Thierry Burkhard. “This image is not representative of action by France in Mali.”
France has been moving into the northern region of Mali to wrestle control of the area from militants affiliated with al-Qaida. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves LeDrian said over the weekend that the goal is the "total reconquest of Mali," and that the French military would not "leave any pockets of resistance." Mali is a Muslim country; those in the north are viewed as religious extremists.
On the AFP blog, Sanogo, the photographer, said that nothing seemed too out of the ordinary about the image at the time.
“It was evening. Rays of light filtered through the trees and the clouds were lifted by the helicopter. It was a pretty light. I saw the soldier wearing an odd bandana and I took the photo. At the moment I didn’t find it particularly extraordinary or shocking. The soldier wasn’t posing.”
Sanogo added: “I don’t know who the soldier is, and I would have trouble recognizing him if I saw him again. I believe, and I hope, that it will be impossible to identify him.”
Military and video games have long mixed – the members of SEAL Team 6 were punished for their role in developing the video game "Medal of Honor." The U.S. Army created “America’s Army,” a series of video games to help with recruitment.
But this image has a more chilling effect, somehow, perhaps because it signifies the conundrum of war: the liberating army as a symbol of freedom, but also of looming death.
Related: Game originator Col. Casey Wardynski explains thinking behind video game
Related: SEALs punished for role in developing Medal of Honor video game, official says
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Richa Singh, 24, who works for an online travel portal, says, "women are seen as objects in this city, it doesn't matter what I wear, I still get stared at by men on the streets."
Since the death of a medical student who was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi the issue of women's security has been under the spotlight as never before in India. Mansi Thapliyal, a female Indian photographer working for Reuters, interviewed a variety of women in New Delhi to find out how they feel about their safety since the rape.
Reactions were strong and wide ranging, from women who now feel they need to arm themselves or take self-defense classes, to others who are scared to go out alone at night.
"My city is known as the so-called rape capital of the country," Thapliyal wrote in a blog post on Reuters.com. "They say it’s unsafe, it’s dangerous, and it’s full of wolves looking to hunt you down." Read her entire blog post on Reuters.com.
Thapliyal decided to focus her camera on the city’s women to find what they think about their security, and how they are protecting themselves. Below is a collection of her photos shot earlier this month, and made available to NBC News today.
Aanchal Sukhija, 19, studying fashion media communication, said that whenever she hires an auto rickshaw she has to send a short message to her father giving details of the auto in order to feel secure.
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Aanchal Sukhija waits for an auto rickshaw outside a metro station in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi.
Nalini Bharatwaj, 37, chairperson of a management institute, says "Half of the time I am alone with my children and sometimes I have to travel late at night from work. It's enough to shut up anyone trying to molest me or even pass a comment if I flaunt my gun."
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Nalini Bharatwaj, holds a gun while posing in her office in New Delhi.
Deepshikha Bharadwaj, 24, who works for an advertising agency, has posted the notice that reads, 'Sorry I am not staying late now,' on her desk and said she wanted to send a message to her colleagues that she is not going to work late in the office anymore.
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Deepshikha Bharadwaj stands inside an elevator in her office on the outskirts of New Delhi.
Sweety, 22,a student, travels four hours every day from her village to the city to learn karate and taekwondo. She said, "boys in my village are scared to tease me after I beat up one boy who was passing lewd comments on me."
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Sweety, takes a self defense class in New Delhi.
Simrat, 24, who works for a non-profit arts organization, said, “I made the decision to use public transport as my primary way of moving through the city because I really believe that it is my right to be able to use public space, just as much as it is of any man."
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Simrat travels in the women's compartment of a metro in New Delhi.
Chandani, 22, who works as a cab driver for a social enterprise which claims to provide safe and secure cab services for women driven by women, said demand for their cabs has increased.
"I am doing a very unconventional job for women,” she said. “Given that I do night shifts, I carry pepper spray bottle and I'm trained in self-defense. Initially I faced a lot of problems but driving cabs at night has helped me to overcome my fears.”
Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters
Chandani sits inside her car on a street in New Delhi.
Lucie Parsaghian / EPA
A group of Russian citizens hold hands after crossing the border from Syria at Al-Masnaa, Lebanon, on Jan. 22.
Jamal Saidi / Reuters
A Russian child evacuated from Damascus sits in a bus as their convoy arrives at the Masna'a border crossing between Lebanon and Syria in the eastern Bekaa region of Lebanon on Jan. 22.
Bilal Hussein / AP
A group of Russian citizens ride a bus shortly after crossing the border from Syria into Lebanon at the Masna'a border crossing in Lebanon, on Jan. 22. Some 80 Russian citizens crossed into Lebanon as Moscow began evacuating some of the tens of thousands of Russians who live in Syria.
By Bassem Mroue and Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press
Four buses carrying Russian citizens escaping the Syrian civil war crossed into Lebanon on Tuesday, in the first evacuation organized by Moscow since the start of the conflict nearly two years ago.
About 80 people, mostly women and children, were on the buses, according to an official from the Russian Embassy in Beirut who was waiting for the group at the Masnaa border crossing in eastern Lebanon. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The evacuation was the strongest sign yet of Russia's doubts in the ability of President Bashar Assad's regime to cling to power in Syria.
Jamal Saidi / Reuters
A Syrian man holds his sister after they fled their home near Damascus, as they walk past Russian nationals sitting in a bus who have been evacuated from Damascus during their arrival at the Lebanese Masna'a border point in eastern Bekaa on Jan. 22.
Previously on PhotoBlog:
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
A look at the violence that has overtaken the country.
Benjamin Lowy / Getty Images Reportage for NBC News
As people attending the second inauguration of President Barack Obama trained their eyes on the historic event, photojournalist Benjamin Lowy trained his lens on them.
“There is something about Americans glancing up,” said photojournalist Ben Lowy. “As Americans we’re always looking forward to the future. It doesn't matter if we’re black, white, yellow, or brown, we look the same when we look up.”
This concept is what attracted Lowy, represented by Getty Images Reportage, to the National Mall in Washington D.C. on a chilly morning in January. His personal mission was to capture as many individual faces “watching history go by” at the second inauguration of Barack Obama. It’s indirectly a continuation of a project he started while covering the political conventions in 2012, he said.
Lowy said when he looked closely at the faces of the convention attendees, “ I couldn't really tell the Republicans from the Democrats.”
“We’re all taking part in democracy,” he said. “Whether you were a member of the 47 percent who voted for Mitt Romney or you voted for Obama in 2012, we’re Americans no matter what.”
In total Lowy captured more than 2,000 portraits on Monday, and we present 57 of his photographs in the slideshow linked above to commemorate the 57th Inauguration.
Related Links:
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
A new suit of armor being made for the Vatican Swiss Guard is seen on Jan. 21, 2013 at the Schmiede Schmidberger workshop in Molln, Austria.
Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters, file
Swiss Guards stand before Pope Benedict XVI makes an address from a balcony in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City on Dec. 25, 2012.
The Vatican has contracted a family of blacksmiths in an Austrian village to manufacture 80 new sets of armor in a project that will take seven years to complete.
Most of the existing armor worn by the Vatican's Swiss Guard dates back at least 100 years when people were generally smaller than they are today, so the existing armor does not always fit today's bulkier guards.
The firm of blacksmiths, Schmiede Schmidberger, is a family-run operation that has been in existence since the year 1350.
-- Getty Images
Related content:
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
Blacksmith Georg Schmidberger crafts a piece of metal that will become part of a suit of armor.
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
The design for a new suit of armor.
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
Tools in the Schmiede Schmidberger workshop.
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
An exterior view of the workshop.
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
Johann Schmidberger Senior works on the Swiss Guard armor.
Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images
Schmiede Schmidberger is a family-run operation that has been in existence since the year 1350.
Stringer / Reuters
Rescue workers stand at the site of a train crash in Granja do Ulmeiro on Jan. 22.
Miguel Teixeira / AP
A train sits beneath the carriage of another train after they collided at a station in Alfarelos, Portugal, on Jan. 22.
Emergency services say a high-speed intercity train rear-ended a local train waiting to enter a station in central Portugal, derailing several carriages leaving a pile of wreckage on Portugal’s main north-south line, slightly injuring 21 people. Officials said the local train was waiting to pull into a station near Coimbra, 120 miles north of the capital, Lisbon, when the northbound intercity train slammed into it from behind at 9.15 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Monday
--The Associated Press
Miguel Teixeira / AP
A worker walks by the wreckage at the scene of a train crash at a station in Alfarelos, Portugal, on Jan. 22.
Previously on PhotoBlog:
A high-speed train from Lisbon rear-ends a local train in Granja do Ulmeiro, Portugal, derailing several cars and injuring at least 13 people. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Heri Juanda / AP
People on motorcycles flee after a strong earthquake hit in Aceh, Indonesia, on Jan. 22, 2013. A strong, shallow earthquake rocked parts of western Indonesia early Tuesday, killing a 9-year-old girl, panicking residents and ruining homes. Several other people were injured.
-- The Associated Press
China Daily via Reuters
Wang Xianxiang carries two buckets of water with his eyelids during a provincial festival for migrant workers in Shaodong County, Hunan province, Saturday.
BEIJING – Wang Xianxiang’s talent is an eyeful.
The 42-year-old fireworks maker from the central Chinese province of Hunan was photographed last weekend performing his signature trick: Suspending two water buckets with a combined weight of 9 pounds on plastic hangers hooked to his eyelids for a minute.
China Daily via Reuters
Wang says he is hoping to increase the amount of weight he can carry with his eyelids.
Wang entertained local migrant workers at a provincial festival near his hometown of Liuyang Saturday.
“When I first started it was extremely painful,” Wang told NBC News about his unique talent, “but after a lot of practice it’s just uncomfortable today.”
Among other talents he’s developed for the show? Having two men wrap a metal wire tightly around his neck while he talks to the audience, which he says has been in the thousands.
Wang, who is married with two children, said he has been doing his eyelid trick for five to six years and started doing it purely out of boredom.
But as he increased the weight on his eyelids, he started to train – practicing for 30 minutes each morning and two hours at night.
Wang’s family initially frowned upon his hobby, but slowly came around as his stature grew within the community.
When asked what his aspirations for the future were, Wang kept it simple. “I can currently hold 4.5 pounds on each eyelid, I’d like to push that to 11 pounds per eyelid.”
He was optimistic that he could accomplish that eye-popping feat by the end of the year.
NBC News’ Le Li contributed to this report.
Daniel Becerril / Reuters
Benito Hernandez stands outside his home near San Jose de Las Piedras in Mexico's northern state of Coahuila on January 16. For over 30 years, Hernandez, his wife Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal and their family have lived in a sun-dried brick home with a huge 130-foot-diameter rock used as a roof. The dwelling is found close to the town of San Jose de Piedras, a remote community located in the arid desert of Coahuila, about 50 miles from the border with Texas.
Daniel Becerril / Reuters
Lucero Hernandez, granddaughter of Benito Hernandez and his wife Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal, stands in the doorway of her family's home near San Jose de Las Piedras in Mexico's northern state of Coahuila.
Daniel Becerril / Reuters
Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal stands nearby as her husband Benito Hernandez pours hot water into a cup at their home.
Daniel Becerril / Reuters
Benito Hernandez stands inside his family's bedroom at his home.
Daniel Becerril / Reuters
The home of the Hernandez family at night.
See more images of interesting structures in PhotoBlog.
A family in Mexico shows off their home made of rock where they have lived for over 30 years. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
President Barack Obama delivers his second inaugural speech, discussing how as a country we will move together, and that "America's possibilities are limitless."
Festivities for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.
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